Patent highlights

16 Aug 2002

The pick of this week's hottest patent applications in the world of photonics.

•  Ever wished that your eyes had a different color? Two scientists from California may be able to help you out. Gregg Homer and David Farah have filed an international patent application for a "method for alteration of iris pigment" (WO 02/062259). The technique allegedly uses a series of lasers to change the color of an iris in the eye of either a human or an animal. The application says that the new color is both a different hue and less saturated that the original.

•  PLC Medical Systems in Franklin, Massachusetts, US has designed a pulsed laser system for heart surgery (WO 02/062246). The invention, based around a CO₂ laser and associated beam delivery optics, is said to be useful for treating blood vessels in the heart (myocardial revascularization). A series of optical elements convert the laser beam into a square shape or the appropriate dimensions prior to exposure of the heart.

•  An optical system for tracking the movement and location of a human body is latest brainchild of Anderson Technologies, Australia. The system, described in patent application WO 02/063456, comprises a video camera, a helmet worn on the head of the user and a computer. The system works by tracking the position of the helmet, processing the position on a computer and then transmitting the information back to the user via a radio-link to a display headset. Intended applications are the real-time control of software.

Author
Oliver Graydon is editor of Optics.org and Opto & Laser Europe magazine.